


Wild One

by BornWeird



Category: Kaisi Yeh Yaariyaan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 17:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12462612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornWeird/pseuds/BornWeird
Summary: Dhruv Vedant screwed up the one chance he had at love. Watch as his life gets even more screwed up with the addition of his childhood nemesis, Naina Malhotra. But will it really be as bad as he thinks it'll be, or is Naina exactly what he needs right now?





	1. The Bozo and the She-devil

**Author's Note:**

> Naina Malhotra is 100% an original character that I created eons ago, just for this specific show actually. Actually, any character that I mention throughout this story, unless said otherwise, that is not mentioned in the tags is an original character. Thought I should put that out there. Happy reading!

Naina Malhotra smiles as she walks into SPACE, headphones in and Green Day playing. "So this is the famous SPACE. No wonder Manik loves this place so much." As she walks around SPACE, she bumps into someone, since she's not looking where she's looking.

And who better than Dhruv Vedant to bump into her?

As they bump into each other, they both drop their phones, which just so happened to be iPhone 6s, have the same black Simple Plan cases, and have the same lime-green earbuds attached to them. For some reason though, Naina's not pissed about Dhruv bumping into her. Or dropping her phone. What pissed her off was the fact the rim of Dhruv's hat hit her forehead, which actually hurt quite a bit.

Naina rubs her forehead in pain, glaring at Dhruv. She takes the hat and puts it on backward. "This way, you won't injure any more foreheads," she says, sarcastically smiling and picking up her phone. Before Dhruv can even compose himself, Naina's all the way at the other end of the hallway. Dhruv shakes his head and picks up his phone.

Once she's found her way to the library, Naina puts her earbuds back in to get a little alone time before she finds her brother, because let's be real, one of him is basically the equivalent of ten rowdy teenagers. As the first song plays, Naina's eyes go wide.

"What the hell? I don't remember downloading this." She looks through the rest of the songs and sees that a bunch of them are about friendship. "Yaaron Dosti? Yaari Yaari? Yaariyan?" she says as she reads the songs. "Who does this guy think he is, my brother? Ooo, or better yet, that friend of his. What was his name again? Oh right, that bozo Dhruv. Otherwise known as the bane of my existence. Or is that my dad?"

As Naina gets up and walks out of the library, people stare at her as she's cursing the universe, but decide not to mention it because she seems scarier than Mukti.

Meanwhile, Dhruv had decided to go to the music room and maybe take a nap, because lord knows his best-friend has enough energy to fuel Russia. Putting his earbuds in, he was hoping for some nice, relaxing music to put him to sleep. Instead, the first song that played, scarred him for life.

"A remix of Tum Hi Ho and Party All Night? Is this person on drugs?" he says to himself, winding the earbuds around the phone. "Or better yet, is this that sister of Manik's. What's that she-demon's name again? Right, Naina. Ugh, the reason for my troubled childhood. Or was that Harshad?"

As Dhruv walks out of the music room, he bumps into someone for the second time that day. And of course, it just had to be Naina.

When Naina falls on top of him, instead of yelling, kicking, and/or screaming, she gets lost in Dhruv's eyes. His innocent, mysterious eyes... And instead of pushing her off, Dhruv gets lost in her eyes. Her fiery, yet vulnerable eyes. They break eye contact when they felt their lips were about to touch. Naina awkwardly gets off, allowing Dhruv to get up.

Then she remembers why she's here and throws Dhruv's phone at him, which thankfully he catches. "Take your music and go prance around in a field of flowers or something. Just stop bumping into me!"

Dhruv glares at her, throwing her phone in her direction, which she thankfully catches. "If you want me to stop bumping into you, then take your messed up idea of music and go listen to it somewhere else. Preferably a place with hot lava and fire."

Naina scowls at Dhruv and starts to put her earbuds in when Dhruv exclaims, "Ew, you got your earwax on this!"

"It's not my fault! When I was a kid, one of my brother's idiotic friends shoved an eraser in my ear. A really waxy eraser that was in my ear for god knows how long!" Naina shudders at the memory, as Dhruv looks like he's trying to remember something.

"I remember doing something like that to my best friend's twin sister, and I also remember her shoving a marble up my nose to get me back." Dhruv cringes at the memory, as Naina goes into deep thought.

"That's weird, I remember doing the same thing to the guy who shoved the eraser in my ear."

Naina and Dhruv begin to realize what they've both just said and shout each other's names at the top of their lungs at the same time.

* * *

Manik, Alya, Cabir, Mukti, Nandini, Navya, Aryman, and even Harshad, were just hanging out in the canteen when they heard Dhruv and Naina scream.

"Was that Dhruv?" asks Nandini.

"Yeah, and a girl who could even scare the shit out of Mukti?" asks Cabir.

Manik, Harshad and Alya looks at each other in shock. "You don't think-" begins Alya, while Harshad cuts her off by saying, "Don't jinx it!"

"Well we have to go check it out," says Manik. The others look at the trio in confusion, but get up to follow Manik. Harshad starts to follow them, stopping in his tracks when he sees Alya stopping to buy something.

"Alya, what are you doing?"

"If it's really who I think it is, then I want to have my popcorn ready," she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Harshad rolls his eyes and drags her by the arm.

"Let's go!"

"But my popcorn!"

"Don't worry Alya, I'll buy you popcorn later," says Aryman.

Alya turns pink, suddenly unaware of the fact that her brother was about to tear her arm off. "Aw, you're so sweet."

"Okay, can I please puke on someone?" asks Mukti, looking a little green.

"Not me," says Cabir, moving out of the way and then pointing his thumb at Navya, "I get enough that shit from this one here."

"Hey!" says Navya, slapping him on the shoulder.

Once the gang reaches Dhruv and Naina, they see that they look like they're about rip each other's heads off. Manik and Harshad's eyes go wide at this as Alya takes a chocolate bar out of her bag and just casually starts eating it.

"Ugh, I can't believe you actually transferred here!"

"Don't get your panties in a twist Vedant, nothing's been finalized yet."

"Yeah, but knowing your mother and the universe, you're going to end up here, and I'm going to have to start crying myself to sleep again."

"You're such drama queen!"

Dhruv rolls his eyes. "Coming from the girl who once single-handedly beat up me, her brother, and her best-friend Harshad for eating that last bag of Nachos."

Naina comes dangerously close to him and growls, "Those Nachos, are extremely hard to find."

As Dhruv and Naina continue arguing back and forth, the others keep watching them like a tennis match.

"This girl seems insane," says Nandini.

"This girl is my twin sister," says Manik.

"That makes so much sense."

"Forget the girl, look at Dhruv!" exclaims Mukti. "Have you guys ever seen him like this?"

"Only when we were little," replies Harshad.

Alya smiles. "Only Naina can bring out this side of him."

"And only he has the courage to provoke her," adds Manik.

"Uh, guys," says Navya, pointing to Naina and Dhruv, who are glaring at each other and look ready to get violent, "maybe you should try and stop them."

"Good point," says Harshad. "Alya, go."

"Me?! Do I look insane and/or stupid to you? No way am I going to stop that fight! I've been stopping those fights since we were little. It's your turn now!"

"Come on Alya, please!" begs Manik.

"Nope," says Alya, munching on her chocolate. "This is my one source of entertainment, no way am I letting this go!"

Manik and Harshad sigh and walk over to the war zone. It takes both of them to stop Naina from lunging at Dhruv.

"Guys, let me go!" yells Naina, struggling to get out of their grip.

"No!" the boys yell in unison, struggling even more to keep their grip on her.

As Naina continues to struggle, she thinks of using her secret weapon. The puppy-dog face.

"Guys, please," says Naina in a cute voice, bringing out her doe eyes and pouty lips. The boys immediately let go of her and Dhruv groans.

"Seriously guys? You fell for the puppy-dog face again?"

Naina turns back to Dhruv and punches him on the shoulder. "This is for all the chocolates you ate."

"Oh really? If I recall, you were the reason for my troubled childhood."

"I thought that was me," says Harshad, to which Dhruv yells, "Shut up!"

"That was only because you decapitated the heads off of all my Barbie dolls!"

"You played with Barbie dolls?" asks Manik, to which Naina responds, "Shut up!"

"Only because you tied me up with jump ropes!"

"That's because you took the stuffing out of all my stuffed animals, and then shoved it all down my throat!"

"When did all this happen?" asks Harshad.

"Remember hide-and-seek?" asks Manik. "And all those stomach aches Naina had?"

"Oh yeah."

Back with the spectators, a mortified Nandini asks, "What kind of childhood did you people have?"

"A very eventful one," responds Alya. "But don't worry about it. Just enjoy the show."

"You got any more of that chocolate?" asks Navya. Alya nods and hands her a chocolate bar. They continue watching a hilarious yet terrifying fight between Dhruv and Naina, as Harshad and Manik bang their heads on the wall in frustration.


	2. The Fixer

"Guys, they've been at this for almost an hour now," says Nandini, "shouldn't we stop them?"

"But they're like Tom and Jerry. This is hilarious!" exclaims Navya.

"Don't worry Nandini, they'll be done soon," says Alya.

"You said that an hour ago." Alya ignores her and proceeds to eat the chips that she found in her bag. "At least share your chips na?"

"Fine," groans Alya, handing the bag to Nandini.

"Are you guys seriously eating food right now?!" demands Harshad.

"What, we're hungry," says Alya.

"Yeah, and there's free entertainment," says Navya.

Harshad looks at Manik who simply shrugs. "They're not wrong."

"Your sister and your best-friend are trying to kill each other."

"Okay, let's try to stop this thing again."

"Don't fail this time!" shouts Mukti.

"Thanks for the encouragement Mukti," Manik says sarcastically.

"I try."

Manik and Harshad slowly walk towards Dhruv and Naina. They exchange nervous glances, with Harshad whispering, "You go first."

"Are you kidding me? No way, you go first!"

"Guys, Manik wants to say something to you!" Harshad shouts, gaining Naina and Dhruv's attention.

Manik glares at Harshad. "Bloody Jerkshad!"

"What Manik?" asks Naina.

"Uh, I wanted to say that... Harshad wants to say something to you guys," Manik says quickly, earning a glare from Harshad. Dhurv and Naina exchange confused glances.

Harshad looks at the two, and then somehow manages to say, "Um, I wanted to say that Manik told me to tell Dhruv that band rehearsals are going to start in five minutes."

"Why can't Manik just tell me that?"

"I don't know, ask him."

"Uh, okay... so buddy, should we head to practice?"

"Yeah sure."

"Yeah, no!" exclaims Naina.

"What?" asks Manik.

Naina walks over to her brother, and hits him on the shoulder. "Manik Malhotra you insufferable moron! I came here all the way from New York, just to see you. I even agreed when mom told me to join SPACE, and I don't even get a 'hi one and only twin sister who I shared the womb with for nine months before leaving her for an entire minute to fend for herself.'  _Seriously_?"

Manik bites back a smile. "You are such a drama queen." He reaches out to give her a hug, but she pushes him away.

"Nuh uh. You didn't even tell me about your new girlfriend! I had to find out from Alya.  _Alya_!" She then walks over to Nandini. "Nandini, am I right?"

Nandini smiles at her. "Yeah."

"Wow, you seem really sweet and innocent... Manik, how the heck did you manage to get her to go out with you?"

"Like you said, she's sweet and innocent," drawls Harshad. Manik sends Harshad a glare.

The others try hard not to chuckle, as Naina asks, "But seriously, did he ever tell you guys about me?" Nandini, Navya, Cabir and Mukti all stare blankly at Naina, who takes the hint and says, "As expected. Alright, so... I'm Naina. I'm sorry you guys had to witness that unfortunate scene right there of Dhruv and I." She then points to Mukti. "And you're Mukti." Then she points to Cabir. "And you're Cabir." Then she points to Navya. "Sorry, but I don't know who you are."

Navya chuckles as she introduces herself. "I'm Navya."

"Well hi! So, I'm guessing that you guys need to get to practice, so I will leave you to it."

"But I'm not forgiven yet!" whines Manik.

"We'll discuss this after your practice."

As Fab5 begins to leave, Naina asks Harshad, "Didn't you say you had a band as well?" Harshad begins to panic as to how he's going to explain to his best-friend that his band members - well, former band members - hate him.

Manik, who had heard what his sister said, walks over to them and exclaims, "Yes he does! Nandini and Navya are his band mates."

Nandini and Navya both widen their eyes in shock, sending questioning glances towards Manik. He sends them a pleading look, and they turn back to Naina and nod.

"Well then you guys probably need to practice too," says Naina. "I'll see you later then." She walks away, as Fab5, along with Nandini, Navya, and Harshad, walk to one of the practice rooms. Aryman just stands there for a minute before walking away as well.

* * *

"What the hell Manik?!" demands Nandini, as they all enter the music room.

"Guys, calm down, just let me explain!"

Nandini sighs. "Continue."

"Look, Harshad is Naina's best-friend, and she trusts him with her life. If she knew about the things he did, it would crush her. I don't want her to know!"

"You're trusting your own sister to be best-friends with  _this jerk_?!" demands Mukti.

"I'm trusting my own sister to be best-friends with  _this jerk_  because I know that  _this jerk_  will never hurt her!"

"Look guys, I might seem like Satan to all of you, mainly because I act like it -"

"You mean mainly because you are," Cabir butts in, only to be ignored.

"- but I actually do care about Naina. A lot! I would never do anything to hurt her."

"Guys, we're not asking you to accept him with open arms or anything," Alya assures her friends, "just pretend to tolerate him around Naina."

Mukti, Cabir, Navya, and Nandini all look at each other, before finally giving in and groaning, "Fine."

Then Cabir asks, "Dhruv, what's your take on all of this?"

Dhruv, who had been tuning his guitar, quiet as a feather falling on the ground, stops what he's doing. "Well, I for one think that this will all blow in your faces if Naina ever finds out. She hates being lied to!"

"She's not going to find out!" Manik and Harshad protest at once.

"Whatever," says Dhurv, rolling his eyes as he goes back to tuning his guitar.

"So, Nandini and I are going to be a part of Harshad's band?" asks Navya.

"No, Naina thinks you guys are a part of my band, but you're not."

"Good, because we hate you."

"Well, you guys probably do need to actually practice so... Navya and I are just gonna' peace out," Nandini says quickly, not wanting to cause any more problems.

"Later losers," Harshad calls out before leaving.

Once the others are gone, Mukti asks, "You want us to pretend to tolerate  _that_?"

* * *

As Nandini's walking down the hallway, she hears shouting coming from one of the practice rooms. So, being Nandini, she decides to eavesdrop. Especially when she sees that it's Aryman and Naina who are doing the shouting.

"Why are you here?" Naina looks worried, like a loved one is going to die level worried.

"You know exactly why I'm here Naina!" Aryman's voice quivered with rage, a furious fire evident in his eyes, one that he did not look to keen on extinguishing anytime soon.

Naina scoffs, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. "You can't be serious!"

"Oh but I am! My sister is dead, and it's all Manik's fault."

"It was a freaking accident!"

"You're only saying that because Manik is your brother, otherwise, you would agree with me." Aryman points his finger in Naina's face accusingly. Naina's eyes widen, making it hard to tell whether she's in shock or about to break Aryman's index finger off.

"No, this had nothing to do with the fact that Manik is my brother. He pushed her aside by accident, he didn't even see her fall into that fire and die. He was trying to protect his girlfriend."

"If it was really an accident, then why doesn't he show any guilt or remorse over Soha's death?! That's the part that bugs me the most. The fact that  _your_  brother doesn't show even one ounce of guilt over my sister's death."

"Aryman, Soha tried to kill Nandini! Do you seriously expect him to show any guilt after that?"

"That's a lie! My sister would never do any of that stuff."

A baffled Naina seems to be on the brink of exhaustion. "Why are you still in denial? Soha was mentally unstable, and the fact that you and your dad refused to believe that just made things worse."

"She was not mentally unstable, there was nothing wrong with my sister!"

"Aryman, just listen to me -" Naina begins to say, but Aryman cuts her off.

"Go. Please, just get out of here."

Naina looks at him one last time, emotions flooding her, making her unsure as to which she should be acting on first. "Fine then. I'll leave you alone."

She walks out of the practice room, only to find Nandini standing outside the door. Naina cringes and asks, "How much of that did you hear?"

Nandini bites her lip, sending a sympathetic glance at the one person her barely five-foot self has ever been eye to eye with.

"All of it."

Naina sighs in frustration. This was not how she had expected her first day to go.

"Great, so I guess my second impression was just as bad as my first."

"No, I just- Can we talk?"

Naina bites her lip, then sighs. "Yeah, sure."

Making their way to the canteen, the two girls find a place to sit, away from the hordes of people, so that they could talk in private. Well, Naina talks. Nandini listens, intently, hanging on to each and every single syllable, not wanting to miss a thing.

"So, Aryman is Soha's brother?"

"Yeah, Soha was his baby sister."

Nandini furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Baby sister?"

"That's what Aryman tended to refer to her as. Plus, she  _was_  a year or two younger than us."

"Oh, okay. So, how exactly do you know Aryman?"

"We met at the New York Academy of Music. I was there for piano, composition in particular. Aryman was there for musical theory, and had  _mad_  drumming skills."

"Is that how you know Soha as well?"

"Yeah, Soha was always really attached to Aryman and the other guys. That's why she hated me so much."

"Wait, other guys? Explain please."

Naina takes a deep breath in, letting out a forced chuckle. "Oh, funny story. See, Aryman, Kunal, Karan and I met at the academy, but we met because they were my roommates."

Nandini spits out the coffee she was drinking, none of it, thankfully, reaching anywhere near Naina.

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah, so there were some glitches, glitches that did not get fixed, and the guys ended up becoming my roommates."

"Those were some serious glitches," says Nandini, causing Naina to laugh.

"Yeah. Aryman and I became friends from the start." Naina's eyes start to light up as she reminisces. "He was just so friendly, you can't help but like the guy! Karan was on the broody Edward Cullen side, but he eventually opened up to me as well. Kunal... let's just say that we had a really hard time clicking."

Intrigued, Nandini asks, "How so?"

"We hated each other from the very beginning! We're just really different, and we'd always butt heads because of that. I'm this man-hater who doesn't trust guys easily, especially guys like Kunal."

"Guys like Kunal?"

Naina proceeds to tick off each characteristic on her fingers. "Players, womanizers, horndogs basically."

"He sounds like a douchebag."

"Oh, he is, we're still somehow friends."

Nandini's jaw drops, eyes widening. "Girl, really?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you some other time. Right now, we should talk about Soha."

"Yes, Soha! So, you're saying that she hated you?"

"Despised me, loathed me, literally everything stronger than hate."

"Why did she hate you so much?"

"Because Soha's always just been possessive by nature. She referred to the guys as 'her boys,' not even in like a cute way, and she didn't like the idea of someone other than her being that close to them."

Nandini stays silent for a while, before finally getting the courage to ask, her tone soft, "Did she ever try to hurt you?"

Naina takes a deep breath in, knowing that this was coming. "Yeah. But Kunal was always there to help me."

"Is that how you and Kunal became friends?"

"No! It took a lot more for us to become friends. Kunal and I were kind of the only ones who really saw that Soha was, well, crazy. And eventually, we got Karan to see it as well. Aryman, on the other hand, was a whole other story."

"That's really weird because he seems so -" begins Nandini, only to have Naina complete her sentence.

"Calm, cool, collected, logical, reasonable?"

Nandini simply blinks. "Yeah."

"Well, he is... except when it comes to Soha. When it comes to Soha, right and wrong don't matter. Soha will always be right in his eyes. And, I don't think I'd consider Soha a bad person." Nandini looks at her in shock, but Naina clarifies, "She was just crazy, and a victim of bad parenting." Noticing Nandini's raised eyebrows and question glance, Naina continues to point out, "Come on, you've met her dad."

After a moment of silence, Nandini quietly asks, "Are you going to tell Manik? Or any of the others?"

"No." Nandini practically gasps, quite dramatically, hence the strong desire to smack herself upside the head.

"Why?!"

"Because of Alya!"

If Nandini had a dollar for every time Naina confused her today, she'd be as rich as the Malhotra family.

"Alya?"

Naina takes a deep breath before beginning to explain, "Look, after what happened with Manik and Dhruv, Alya needs someone different. Aryman is literally like a breath of fresh air for her. She's been constantly talking about him, and that's how I got to know about Aryman being here in the first place."

"Is that why you joined SPACE?"

"Kind of. I wanted to come visit my mom, Manik, Alya and Harshad. And my mom's been asking me to join SPACE for a while now, even though I've always refused. But when I found out about Aryman being here, I thought that maybe it would be best if I did transfer here."

"But don't you think that Alya would be upset if she found out that Aryman's using her?"

"I don't think he's using her."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because, before I found out that Aryman was here in India, I talked to him constantly, and he wouldn't shut up about this one girl. He'd never tell me her name, but I know that she was Alya. Look, it might seem like I'm being a bad sister, but I know that Aryman would never hurt Manik physically. He just wants him feel just a little twinge of guilt over Soha's death. That's all Aryman needs so that he can stop this whole 'Manik is Satan, and Soha is a saint' thing."

Nandini stays silent for a moment, before finally speaking up. "You're right. I think keeping this a secret might be the best idea. Besides, Aryman did save me, and I don't think that he did that just to earn Manik's trust or some crap like that. I think he genuinely cares for Alya too, and I know we're not close friends, but I she deserves at least a little bit of happiness after all she's been through. Plus, her misery's basically my fault."

Naina breathes out a sigh of relief, as if a huge weight has just been lifted off her shoulders. "Thank you so much for understanding! Also, please don't blame yourself for any of that stuff that happened with Alya. You fell in love, and it's not like you can control your feelings. Besides, I don't think Alya blames you either."

Nandini's eyes widen, filled with hope. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

Naina then adds, a beat later, "Thank you for hearing me out, Nandini. You've made my life so much easier."

Nandini smiles brightly. "Glad I could help. Now, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Is it something dangerous?"

"Maybe."

Naina raises her eyebrows, and Nandini continues. "Tell me embarrassing stories about Manik, because I seriously need blackmail material, you won't believe the amount of crap he has against me! He literally has a better texting relationship with my Chachi."

Naina bursts out laughing. "Nandini, I think I really like you. So, did Manik ever tell you about the time we were seven, and we were in Chicago during Christmas, and Manik accidentally broke Santa Claus's hip at the mall?"

"Um, no!" exclaims Nandini, now starting to laugh as well. "Tell me more!"

* * *

Fab5 had just finished practice. "That sounded great guys!" exclaims Cabir.

"I agree," says Manik, nodding his head in agreement. "I'm gonna' go find my sister, okay?"

"Cool, we'll see you later then?" says Mukti.

"Yeah, bye!"

"Bye Manik!" Alya calls out.

"See ya, buddy," says Dhruv, waving goodbye.

Manik closes the door behind him, and heads to the canteen, knowing that his sister can't go more than four hours without food.

When he reaches the canteen, he sees Naina sitting with Nandini, laughing about something. He smiles at the sight. "Aw, my sister and my girlfriend are getting along." That smile soon disappears when he realizes something. "Crap, my sister and my girlfriend are getting along!" He rushes over to their table and sits down. "Hey! What are you guys talking about?"

Nandini and Naina look at each other, smirking, as Nandini teasingly says, "Naina was telling me about how you refused to believe that Ginny from the Harry Potter series was a fictional character up until the age of... what was it again? Right, twelve."

"No, it was thirteen," Naina reminds her, not fazed by the glare Manik was sending her way.

"You promised to never tell!"

"I was just following girl code."

"Girl code?"

"Yeah, the one where sisters are supposed to tell their brother's girlfriend about their most embarrassing secrets, which they want no one to know."

"Then, why exactly didn't you tell Alya any of this when we were dating?"

"Because she was there for like, all of it. And she probably caused most of it."

"Oh."

Naina shakes her head as she gets up. "You can be such an idiot sometimes. Now, I will leave you two lovebirds alone. Bye!"

"Bye Naina," Nandini calls out to her. She then turns to Manik.

"I really like her."

Manik groans. "Great."

* * *

Later that night, as Naina's reading a book in her room, comfortably sitting in her centuries old, practically falling apart, bean bag chair, Manik comes in, disturbing her peace as always.

Brothers.

"Hey, you hungry?"

Naina looks up from her book, slightly annoyed. "Do you ever knock?"

Manik smirks, teasingly raising his eyebrows. "Naina, have I ever knocked?"

"Manik, have I ever not been hungry?"

The twins stare down at each other for a while - well, down in Manik the big friendly giant's case and up in Naina the minion of all minions' - before they burst out laughing.

A moment later, Naina asks, "Hey, is today some kind of special day? Because I totally feel like I'm forgetting something."

"You know, I'm getting that same feeling."

"Whatever, I gotta' check my Facebook."

"Since when are you a Facebook girl?"

Naina rolls her eyes, grabbing her laptop off of her bed, and then opening it up and logging into Facebook.

"I've always been a Facebook girl Manik." Naina clicks on her notifications, and shouts, "Shit!" when she sees what day it is.

Manik is quick to react, jumping over the hordes of clothes already piled up on his sister's floor - the girl has been here one day, honestly - and slipping down on the floor beside her.

"What's wrong?" Naina shows him her laptop, and Manik demands, "Today's Myra's birthday?!"

"I can't believe we forgot!"

"We are horrible people."

"The worst," says Naina, nodding in agreement.

"We should call her."

"Yes! Let me find my phone."

"Are you kidding me? That could take forever!" Naina threw a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face.

"You are so lucky I didn't throw my book at you," she growls, finally finding her phone. She dials Myra's number, but it goes to voicemail.

"It's going to voicemail."

"Call her house." Naina nods her head and begins dialing.

"Hello?" the person on the other end says.

"Hello, Anita aunty?" says Naina, greeting Myra's housekeeper and unofficial guardian. "It's Naina."

"Oh, Naina beta! Beta, Myra's been upset all day. She didn't even go to college, but she did just leave."

"Okay, thank you, aunty." Naina ends the call, turning to her brother.

"We gotta' go! We have to go to every single nightclub in the city until we find her. Who knows what she's doing!"

After an hour of driving to Myra's usual spots, Manik and Naina find themselves at a sketchy nightclub with flickering lights and an eighties-style wanted poster, a life-size one at that, plastered onto the door.

"Okay, she has got to be here!" exclaims Naina, getting out of Manik's car and slamming the door. As the twins head inside, they see a girl with wild curly hair dancing in the center of the club. She sticks out like a sore thumb, wearing the highest heels and the shortest dress, so Manik and Naina immediately knew who she was.

"Myra," they both say at once, heading to where she is.

Making their way through the crowd, they finally reach, where Naina proceeds to grab her arm and turn her around.

"Naina!" Myra exclaims excitedly, literally falling into the girl's arms, giving away the fact that she is currently extremely drunk.

"Hi, honey. Let's get you home."

Myra pouts, a sure sign that she is about to start whining like a child. "No! I want to stay! Come on, have some fun! Dance with me."

"Myra, it's almost midnight," says Manik, "you don't want Anita aunty to worry, do you?"

Myra stomps her foot in frustration. "No, but I want to stay!"

Manik sighs and looks at Naina who simply nods at him. Manik picks Myra up, and throws her over his shoulder, despite her protests.

Just then, a guy comes near them and says, "Let the girl stay if she really wants to."

Naina turns to the guy and snaps, "Does this concern you? No, no it does not! Now, if you want to walk out of here in one piece, then I highly suggest that you get out of my sight." The poor guy scurries away as Naina marches over to Manik's car.

Naina gets into the backseat so she could take care of Myra.

"Hi sweetie, you okay?"

"No." Myra hangs onto Naina tightly, as if her life depended on it.

"What's wrong honey?"

Myra turns to look at her, eyes brimming with tears. "It's my birthday, that's what's wrong. It's cursed, remember? Bad things happen on this day. So happy fucking birthday to me." Naina just hugs Myra tighter, causing her to stop crying, and finally falling asleep.

She then says to Manik, "Let's take her to our place." Manik nods and starts driving.

Arriving back at their house, Manik and Naina make their way over to one of the guest bedrooms, which might as well be Myra's room, mainly because Myra was already asleep. Once Naina's called Anita aunty to let her know that Myra was alright, she decides to take a page out of Myra's book and turn in for the night as well. But before she could make her way over to her room, she hears Manik's voice.

"So, not exactly the first day you were expecting right?"

Naina gives him a slight smile. "Hey, I'm Naina Malhotra. I'm used to this stuff."

Manik smiles at his sister before saying good night and heading to his room. Naina smiles back and heads to her room as well.

_Used to this stuff indeed_ , she thinks, before her head hits the pillow and sleep takes over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kunal, Karan and Myra, who were all not mentioned in the tags, are my original characters, I don't know why I felt the need to mention that, but I did so...


	3. The Malhotras

"Is something burning?" Naina Malhotra asks herself, getting out of bed. She walks out of her room and goes downstairs. She walks into the kitchen, and sees a sight that she never thought that she'd see.

Her brother, Manik 'I use being a tortured artist as an excuse to be an asshole' Malhotra, cooking. Or at least attempting to.

"Uh, Manik? You're not trying to burn down the house are you?"

Manik turns around, and scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "No, I was actually trying to make you your favorite cheese omelette."

"Aw, that is so sweet!" Naina walks over to her brother and hugs him, craning her neck up, only to be met with her brother's egg yolk covered chin.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my brother Manik?"

Manik slaps her arm, prompting Naina to retract her arms from her brother's waist. "Seriously though! When did you become so thoughtful?" Manik says nothing, continuing to focus on the omelette.

And then it hits her.

"Oh my god, did Nandini Murthy turn my brother into a big old softie?!"

"Shut up Naina."

Naina squeals, choosing to focus on her brother's pink cheeks rather than the homicidal glare he was sending her way. Her eyes then divert to what she assumes is Manik's version of cooking. "Manik, why does your cheese omelet look like something conceived by a chicken and a fish?"

"What are you talking about?"

"So you see, when a chicken and a fish have a baby... chickfish? Yeah, let's go with chickfish. So, if you take that chickfish and try to cook it, that's what this thing here looks like."

"Fine, don't eat it!" snaps Manik, about to throw out all his hard work.

Naina stops him, smiling. "I never said that wouldn't eat it." She takes the 'omelette' and puts it on a plate. Slowly, she starts to eat it, as Manik looks on, mouth hanging open in shock until Naina somehow manages to swallow the very last bite.

"You just ate my cooking... how was it?"

"It didn't make me puke, but how about I teach you how to make an actual cheese omelette?"

Manik shrugs, following his sister's lead. As Naina cracks an egg and starts beating it, Manik asks, "Wait, that's how you crack an egg?"

"Yeah, why? How did you crack the egg?"

"Well, I kind of just smashed it in my hand and put it in the bowl."

Naina sends him a look that says 'are you joking?' before shaking her head and continuing to make the omelette. When she gets out the cheese, that's already opened, she sees that it's moldy, and throws it out.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because it's moldy." A wave of panic crosses Manik's face, causing Naina to groan. "You used the moldy cheese, didn't you?" Manik says nothing, as Naina furiously opens up a new pack of cheese.

Once the omelet is done, Manik stares at it in awe.

"Now that is how you make a cheese omelette!" Naina exclaims triumphantly. As Manik begins to eat the omelette, Naina slaps his hand away. "You don't get to eat this amazing omelette that  _I_  slaved over."

"But I'm hungry!"

"You made me eat toxic poison."

"I thought you said it was a chickfish."

"That was before I found out that there were egg shells and moldy cheese in it! No wonder it was crunchy..."

"Well, I'm sorry, I tried!"

"And it wasn't a bad try. I mean, I'm alive so..."

Manik throws a towel at her.

"Hey!" exclaims Naina, throwing it back at him.

Somewhere along their game of 'hot potato: towel edition,' a frustrated Naina blurts out, "You know, you should be glad that I'm even talking to you right now! All you've done is ignore me for the past three fucking years!"

Manik freezes at mid-throw when he hears this, letting the towel drop to the ground, causing Naina to sigh, cursing her big mouth. "Look, I didn't want to bring this up, but two of your best-friends, never mind your girlfriend who you're supposedly in love with according to Alya, didn't even know that I existed until yesterday! If Cabir and Mukti are as important to you as you say they are, then don't you think that they deserve to know about your one and only twin sister? And we haven't even had a proper conversation in the past three years! Did you ever call to see how I was doing? If I'm okay? Well, I did. I  _know_  that Mukti was depressed. I  _know_  that Cabir struggled with being gay. I  _know_  how messy your breakup with Alya was. I  _know_  that Dhruv was being a complete ass towards you and everyone else. I  _know_  that Nandini had to deal with that creepy teacher. I  _know_  about Soha the psycho stalker... I  _know_  everything! And how do I know everything? I asked, and Alya was more than happy to answer because clearly, you wouldn't.

I was worried, I was concerned, I cared about you enough to check up on you. But what about me, Manik? Did you even bother to ask about how I was doing? Did you know that I had to be in the boys' dormitory because of system errors? Did you know that there was a crazy girl out to get me as well? And what about the fact that I've had to spend time with our pathetic excuse for a father and his teenage trophy wife on my own?! We're twins, Manik, always there for each other no matter what. We don't keep secrets from each other, and don't you dare deny that there are things that you're not telling me,  _big_  things. A cheese omelet isn't going to make up for three years of ignoring me when I needed you the most. I know that this isn't exactly something you wanted to hear first thing in the morning, but I just... you know what, it doesn't even matter. I'll see you later." With that, Naina walks back up to her room.

Manik runs his fingers through his hair, eyes landing on a perfectly expensive and fragile piece of china to throw across the room.

That was before he heard a voice say, "Smashing things is for the broken-hearted, not the frustrated." He turns around and sees Myra standing near the entrance of the kitchen, leaning against the wall, arms folded across her chest, eyebrows raised to her hairline.

Manik sighs, removing his eyes from the plate. "How long have been here?"

"Um, right where Naina started yelling. I am amazed by Naina's ability to go from laughing to yelling." Manik simply gives her his resting bitch face. "Seriously Manik, not even a half-smile?" Manik lets out a small chuckle, causing Myra to smile brightly. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Huh, I didn't know that the resident bitch of SPACE had a heart."

Myra excitedly moves her body off the wall, practically bouncing, putting Navya in all her bubble of energy glory to shame. "There's the Manik Malhotra I know and love! You feel better now buddy?"

"I will once my sister has the heart to forgive me."

"You know, you could always just tell Naina the truth about Harshad -"

"No!"

Myra throws her arms up in defense. "I swear to god Manik, you put all hormonal girls of the world to shame."

"Myra!"

"Okay, serious mode. Look, I know Naina, she's not going to stay mad at you forever. But if she finds out that you're  _lying_  to her, she will make you feel like crap."

"Gee thanks." That earned Manik a smack on the arm.

"I'm serious! Naina hates being lied to."

"Okay, now you're just starting to sound like Dhruv."

"Well, Dhruv is right. Lying to Naina is going to blow up in your face."

"Are you like, on Team Dhruv or something?"

"In this case, I'm totally on Team Dhruv!"

"I really hate you, you know that?"

Myra, who had already turned around to walk away, tried to leave with a muffled, "Yeah, yeah, love you too," until Manik remembers something.

"Wait!"

Myra freezes on the spot and hisses, "So close!" She turns around and gives Manik a big smile. "How ya' doin'?"

"Yeah, I'm not buying that."

"Seriously, not even for like half a second?"

"Not even for like a quarter of a nanosecond."

"Goddamn!"

Manik, ignoring Myra's desperate need to not talk about her feelings, walks up to her and demands, "What was that last night?"

"What was what?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I thought we talked about your drinking."

"Why, pray tell father, am I not allowed to have one night entitled to me drowning my sorrows in alcohol?"

"One night, really?!"

"Okay, maybe more than one night."

Manik sighs, frustrated. "Hey, this is just how I deal with my problems. It's not the best way to deal with my problems, but it's still better than keeping it all bottled up inside, or taking it out on other people."

"Myra -"

"You should be more worried about Naina, not me. One sister at a time, Manik." With that, Myra pulls a Naina and heads upstairs to the guestroom, which is technically her unofficial room.

"Sisters," Manik grumbles as he watches Myra walk away.

* * *

First thing Naina hears when she walks through the doors of SPACE is her brother's girlfriend yelling her name.

"Hey, Naina!"

Everyone else looked at them strangely. Nandini was this sweet, lovable girl, and Naina literally had 'I am Satan, I will kill you' written on her forehead. They're a strange pair those two... but then again, strange is exactly what SPACE is known for.

"Hey Nandini!"

"Wow, Naina smiled at you?" asks Alya, walking up to them. "Those are usually reserved for people she actually likes. Oh, and Dhruv."

"Okay, when have I ever smiled at Dhruv?"

"Lots of times."

"Name one."

"How about ten? Oh, and would like them in chronological order, or alphabetical?"

"I only asked for one," grumbles Naina, folding her arms across her chest as Nandini giggles.

Suddenly, there's a loud screeching noise that makes everybody cover their ears.

"What the fuck is that?!" demands Naina.

"Ugh, our PA system," explains Alya.

"Good morning people of SPACE!" a voice declares from the PA system. "Now before I continue with the usual announcements, I'd just like to mention that we are going to fix this ancient machine that's recently been sending people to the hospital with bleeding ears. Now that I've mentioned that, we only have one major announcement today. As you all know, our annual music showcase is coming up. This showcase is an amazing opportunity for everyone to show their talent in front of some of the biggest names in the music business, so sign up to audition now. Also, any questions or concerns you may have should be directed towards Ms. Nyonika Malhotra. This has been Myra Kapoor with your morning announcements, have a nice day."

"At least her voice is more pleasant than that godforsaken PA system," remarks Nandini.

"Well, she is one of the best female singers in this college," Alya points out.

"She is?"

"Yup."

"Huh, never heard of her," says Nandini, as the girls make their way to their classes.

Meanwhile, a sour Manik's mood is slightly brightened when he hears his best-friend exclaim, "Hey buddy!"

"Hey Dhruv."

"What's wrong buddy?"

"Nothing."

"Lies!" Dhruv exclaims dramatically in an accusing manner. "Now tell me the truth."

Manik rolls his eyes, mentally reminding himself to stop any future Bollywood marathons Dhruv plans on having with Navya. "Naina kind of blew up at me this morning. Also, Myra said that she's on Team Dhruv about this whole lying to Naina thing."

"I know, I got her text. We're planning on making t-shirts."

Manik chuckles and shoves Dhruv. "Very funny!"

"I know, I'm hilarious, but we actually are planning on making t-shirts."

"How exactly did you get Myra to agree about the t-shirts?"

"I might've told her that the t-shirts would have 'Team Dhurv and Myra' written on them. But the 'and Myra' part is going to be small.  _Really_  small. Like, minuscule, not even there, practically invisible."

"You do know that Myra will kill you if you do that to her, right?"

"Please, I've known Naina all my life and I'm still alive! Myra's like a harmless kitten compared to her, and I've seen the black eye she gave the last jerk she went out with." Manik shakes his head at his best-friend as they make their way to class.

* * *

Later that day in the canteen, a helpless Manik was trying to get his sister to accept his apologies as their friends looked on. "Okay, you can't seriously be mad at me forever!"

Naina doesn't respond.

"Naina!" Manik whines, kind of like a five-year-old begging for his mom's attention. Naina continues to eat the delicious chicken sandwich she bought.

"Lieutenant peanut butter?" Naina shoots her brother a death glare for mentioning her childhood nickname, but still continues to shut him out. "Seriously, nothing?"

Meanwhile, Mukti, who was watching this sad, but hilarious, scene unfold with her friends, remarks, "You know, I've never seen Manik so - so -"

"Desperate?" suggests Nandini.

"Yeah that."

"Eh, I've witnessed this side of him a couple times."

"You guys, he's pouting!" exclaims Navya. "Monster Manik Malhotra is pouting! This is the best day of my life!"

"You're so weird," grumbles Cabir, immediately regretting opening his mouth when Navya shoots her laser eyes at him. Cabir then turns to Harshad, keeping his voice low as he hisses, "You know, you should be the one having to deal with this." Harshad says nothing.

Dhruv, who was itching to pick a fight with Naina, as well as defend his best-friend of course, says to Naina, "Wow, you're being way bitchier than usual."

Naina snaps her head in Dhruv's direction, picking up a spoon and pointing it in his face. "You do know that I have a spoon right?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna' take that." Dhruv somehow manages to get the weapon - er, spoon out of Naina's death grip.

"What's she gonna' do with a spoon?" asks Cabir.

"Trust me, you really don't want to know," warns Alya.

"Does anyone else notice that Dhruv is actually enjoying the fact that Naina wants to kill him, or is that just me?" asks Mukti.

"Dhruv likes picking fights with Naina," explains Alya, "mainly because he's a suicidal moron."

"But it's Dhruv! Good boy Dhruv!"

While Mukti continues, and fails, to try and understand the effect Naina Malhotra is having on two of her best-friends, Harshad decides to intervene and try and pacify Naina. "Come on Nains! You can't be mad Manik forever. I mean, he is your one and only twin brother."

"You too? Three against one is hardly fair. Alya, back me up here."

"Sorry Naina, but I think you're being just a little too harsh on Manik."

"Oh, so you're on their side now?"

"Well..."

"What if I told you who ate that lifetime supply of chocolate you worked so hard to win in that contest?" Alya's eyes go wide, as the boys curse Naina under their breaths.

"Screw doing the right thing! You will all now face the wrath of a girl deprived of her chocolate!"

Manik then turns to his lovely girlfriend, hoping for some help. "Nandini, please help us out!"

"Sorry guys but... girl code."

"What about the  _girlfriend_  code?"

"Yeah... girl code trumps the girlfriend code like every time." Manik, Dhruv, and Harshad all give Nandini looks that make her feel like she just run over a puppy. With a tractor. Nine times.

"But what I want to know, is who this Myra Kapoor is," says Nandini, changing the topic.

"Wait, you don't know who Myra Kapoor is?" asks Mukti.

"Not a clue."

"Nandini, Myra does the announcements every morning," Cabir informs her.

"And she's our college president," adds Dhruv.

"Okay, seriously, how have I never even heard of this girl?"

"Maybe because you were too busy sucking face with my brother." Everyone turns to look at Naina, who simply shrugs. "What? I've heard things. Mainly from Cabir, who, by the way, is the biggest gossip I've ever met." Manik glares at Cabir who smiles cheekily at him, as Nandini buries her tomato red face in her hands.

Before the teasing could begin, Manik and Naina both get texts.

"Thank god," mutters Manik.

"Um, guys, we'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye guys."

Entering the music room, Naina immediately says, "Okay Myra, what's the problem?"

" _That_  is my problem," spits out Myra, pointing at the smirking, abs of steel guy standing beside her. Naina's eyes go wide when she sees him.

"Kunal?!" Unable to contain her excitement, Naina runs up to Kunal and hugs him, a very un-Naina thing to do, and jumps into his arms. Kunal spins her around, then puts her back down on the ground.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ugh, don't ask!"

Naina rolls her eyes. "Myra?"

"Well, according to your dad, Kunal is my new boyfriend." Myra looked like she wanted to strangle someone, although Naina was unsure whether it was her father or Kunal.

"Wait, rewind," says Manik, turning to Kunal, "how do you know my sister?"

"She was my roommate."

"She was your  _what_?!"

"We'll talk more about that later. Now, can you two please explain exactly what's going on?"

"Well, basically, your best-friend is an idiot, so his parents decided to find him a goodie-goodie girlfriend," explains Myra.

"And that's where Miss Goodie-Goodie comes in," continues Kunal. "Her parents are trying to get into my parents' good graces, and she's the poster child for all that is good in the world so... voila! Instant girlfriend."

Myra glares at Kunal, her reputation as the resident bitch of SPACE shining through. "They're not my parents, they're my uncle and aunt."

"Whatever." Kunal was clearly not bothered by the fact that Myra's trying to strangle him from behind.

"See what I mean!"

"Alright, alright, break it up!" says Naina.

"Wish I could," mutters Kunal.

Naina ignores him, focusing her attention on Myra. "But why you? I'm the one who's actually friends with him."

"Exactly! You guys are friends, therefore, no one is going to believe that you guys are a couple!"

"But the whole good girl thing is just an act," Manik points out, finally speaking up.

"Yeah, but it's not like anyone other than you guys knows that!"

"Dhruv and Alya know."

"They're Dhruv and Alya, of course they know."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean it's just an act?" asks Kunal.

Manik smirks. "Myra Kapoor is a good girl by day, and a party girl by night."

"She's also right here."

Manik ignores his cousin. "Oh, and did I also mention that she can put you through hell if you piss her off?"

"Oh, so not only am I forced to go out with someone I don't even like, as well as transfer to her college, she turns out to be a total fake."

"Excuse you!"

"On the bright side, at least I'm here," Naina points out, "and so is Aryman."

"Wait, what does Aryman have to do with any of this?" asks Manik.

"I'll explain it to you later."

"You're right!" exclaims Kunal. "Oh, and Karan's transferring here too, mainly because he's lonely without us."

"Yay, everyone gets a happy ending but Myra."

"Oh boo hoo!" Myra glares at Kunal, causing another argument to break out between the two.

As they argue, Naina whispers to Manik, "You want to get out of here?"

"God, yes! Chinese food?"

"I just want food, period." With that, the twins sneakily run away from the music room.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," says Manik, trying to wrap his head around everything his sister was saying, "there was a system error at your school, one which apparently didn't get fixed, and that's how you ended up with Aryman, that Kunal guy, and some dude named Karan as your roommates. You and Aryman were quick to become friends - which is obvious because he's great! Karan was most definitely on the shy side, even though his family is worse than The Kardashians, but you grew on him - because you're totally awesome! And Kunal was, and still is, a total dick, yet somehow the two of you are friends even though you once threatened to shave his head with Sai swords."

Popping a spring roll in her mouth, Naina goes over everything her brother just mentioned.

"Yeah, that about covers it."

Stealing a piece of chicken from his sister, hence the kick rightfully earned, Manik asks, "How come Aryman didn't mention anything?"

Naina tries to remain casual about the topic, trying not to freak and have a meltdown and ruin everything. "He probably didn't think it was necessary because he thought that you were brother of the year and probably knew everything about him."

Manik throws a fortune cookie at his sister, hitting her right between her eyes and above her nose, even though he totally deserved that comment.

"Have you ever date -"

"Hell no!" Naina is quick to protest, knowing where her brother was heading with this. "I love those dunderheads more than anything else, but not in the same way you love Nandini, more like how you love... let's say Mukti!"

Manik gives his sister a slight nod. "Got it. Now about Myra -" Before Manik can finish his sentence, a familiar click-clack of expensive heels upon their even more expensive dining room floor catch Naina's attention. She shoots up like a rocket, beaming as bright as the sun, making her way towards the owner of said heels.

"Mom!" she exclaims at the top of her lungs, hugging her mother as Manik rolls his eyes, already starting to clear his plate.

Nyonika smiles at the sight of tiny little bubble of light that almost knocked her over - girl may be small, but she is freakishly strong. "Hi beta! How was your first day? You haven't killed Dhruv yet, have you?"

"It was okay, and no, you won't be seeing me in handcuffs anytime soon mom."

"Nonsense! You're a Malhotra - if you were to murder someone, you would definitely be smart enough to make it look like an accident and get away with it."

"That's true." Out of the corner of her eye, Naina sees her brother starting to leave. "Manik, where are you going?"

Manik sighs. "I'm done, Nains, I'm heading up to my room."

"But mom just got home!"

"Exactly why I'm leaving. Enjoy mommy dearest while she lasts." With that, Manik sends one last seething glare his mother's way before heading upstairs. Naina on the other hand, simply looked at her mother questioningly, confused by her twin's behavior.

"What's going on? Is there something that I should know?"

Nyonika sighs, mentally reminding herself to have a talk with her son later. "Nothing honey, he's just stressed. Let's eat."

Later that night, Nyonika goes up to her son's room, ready to give him an earful about behaving that way in front of his sister.

"What the hell was that?" Manik stops strumming his guitar at the sound of his mother's voice.

"That was me forgetting that Naina was there, sorry."

"Be more careful next time! The less she knows about what's going on, the better."

"Glad we can agree on something Nyonika. Now would please get the hell out of my room?" Nyonika narrows her eyes at her son, choosing to walk away, knowing that she'd probably dodged a bullet.

What her daughter doesn't know won't hurt her... right?


End file.
